I was struck with a sense of awareness finally dawning as I tuned in and watched Animal House. I knew the hype about National Lampoon, about their films and how they were cult comedy to be admired; I just hadn't really watched any of their stuff. But thinking I knew a bit about comedy and such (just a bit, not much) I thought it was about time I rolled back the clock and checked it out. I was eminently pleased I did.
Animal House tells the story of two college freshmen picking their frat house. Rather than wind up at one of the exclusive, preppy fraternities they wind up in the Animal House, filled with beer-swilling, party-loving miscreants who believe that the pursuit of happiness should outweigh all else. Well, that or just that they don't care about much at all. Threatened with closure, the boys set out to wreak as much havoc as possible. They lose girlfriends and respect along the way; they lose all sense of what they should be achieving at college. And yet they find each other and a common purpose binds them.
It seems so obvious how much National Lampoon obviously influenced so many comedies of the 90s and 00s; many come to mind that must be in their debt. But there's a subtlety to some of Animal House's humour, some lines that slip by nearly unnoticed, that I savoured above all else. The slapstick element is clearly present, but it's underpinned by some cleverer antics, some delicious twists of expectation that keep the movie a delight from beginning to end. It is anything but predictable.
So, on to the next few I suppose.
~~~
1978
John Belushi, Tom Hulce, Stephen Furst
dir. John Landis
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